The end result of this thinking is convincing oneself that the commodification of everything is a positive trait in the MPP-internalising war of all against all.
I believe this complacency that companies currently have (i.e. everything will be the same except we'll need fewer people) will soon give away to fear. Companies will realize that they are in a race and now is the dumbest time ever to let people go as they will need every possible advantage to win. Lazily sitting around and waiting for AI to replace people while doing some layoffs here and there is really max complacency. These companies are going to get their butts handed to them by competitors who focus on leveraging AI + people.
Maybe at some point in the future when things have stabilized it might make sense to try to trim costs. Right now though, the ground is shaking and they need to move or die.
But it is also incorrect to assume that since some employees don't contribute to revenue that layoffs are going to improve the companies profitability. Executives may not have the information to know exactly who to layoff. Or they may have that information, but actively chose to ignore it. But if you're willing to engage in something vaguely equivalent to the shotgun debugging of your personnel, you probably can cut more non-revenue generating staff than revenue generating staff.
This is why this commentary doesn't matter. Either it'll work, in which case, great, cheaper products and services, or it won't work and the company folds and a competitor who didn't do it replaces them, or it won't work and they realise in time and stop it.
It's capitalism, baby.
I began working in the late 80’s. Throughout my career I saw the steady reduction in Finance organizations as roles were reduced and/or eliminated by the introduction of computers and software. First it was spreadsheets that eliminated the tedious work of writing on 13-column sheets to create financials. Then it was accounts payable clerks who were eliminated as EDI sent better quality information that needed less reconciliation and fewer humans touching it. I watched 90% of accounts receivable clerks who were eliminated as software could create the invoices from data in the system and automatically match payments to invoices. Then it was the bank reconciliations teams that were reduced as better information flow between the banks and companies allowed the automation of daily bank reconciliations. All of these were thought by the companies to be great advances due to technology. They eliminated “non-value-added” work and made companies more efficient. They also eliminated lots of jobs, particularly entry-level jobs.
My intuition is that other functions saw similar increases in labor productivity. Why is what is happening to programmers today any different?
codeful•7mo ago
I'd like to share an insight from a workplace where I've been for 10 years and have had 6 different managers and various teams.
When you start working with a new manager or team, hold back on excessive commitment and trust until the first serious crisis arises within the team or department. This usually happens within a few months. It's in serious situations that people's true capabilities are revealed when they're needed most.
dlahoda•7mo ago
and crisis arises, he still works and acts same way, he does not try to work harder.
would your test reveal his capability?